📖 Book Review ~ Ten Poems from Northumberland from Candlestick Press

Candlestick Press 
August 2025
Thanks to the publisher for my copy of this pamphlet 

Northumberland is border country – a place of ballads and battles and windswept beaches where grand castles stand sentinel. This mini anthology celebrates the wild beauty of the county’s landscapes, where the past still seems to linger in the ruggedness of rock and moorland.

Water laps at the edges of many of the poems. There’s an evocation of crossing the causeway to Holy Island as the tide swirls inward and a paean to Berwick upon Tweed with its “platinum threadings of submersion”. There’s also a poignant elegy to the famous sycamore that was illegally felled in 2023:

“This is how we will keep on planting you into our lives,
though none of it can echo the way that you held
the rain in your arms, or how you wore the colours
of autumn on your bonfire crown…”

from ‘The Sycamore’s Ghost’ by Jane Burn

The poem honours a tree that was loved by many, keeping it alive for us all in language.

Jane Burn is a poet and artist who lives in an off-grid cottage in Northumberland.

Poems by Bob Beagrie, Jane Burn, John Challis, Linda France, Garry Gallagher, Wilfred Gibson, Carmen Marcus, Katrina Porteous, Degna Stone and James Tait.

Cover illustration by Jane Burn

📖 My Review..

Those amongst us who are not lucky enough to call Northumberland home should at least visit this borderland at least once and experience the warmth of its people, the beauty of its wild and dangerous landscape and the history which survives in the backdrop of its mighty castles. My visit, some years ago, to Hadrian’s Wall, Bamburgh Castle and the timeless beauty of Lindisfarne Priory, imprinted the natural beauty of these wild places into my soul.

In Ten Poems from Northumberland this talented bunch of poets breathe life into this windswept part of the country and share their love and passion for its wild beauty.

From Northumberland by Wilfred Gibson

Heathland and bentland,

Black land and white,

God bring me to Northumberland,

The land of my delight.

From Northumberland Morning by Harry Gallagher 

“…but the frosted fences

boundaries as old as coal

keep it all away

in snuffling sleep 

shuffling sheep,

dairy farm dawn

of a workaday whitewashed

Northumberland morning.”

No modern anthology of poems about Northumberland could fail to include a mention of the iconic oak tree at Sycamore Gap on Hadrian’s Wall which was so senselessly cut down in September 2023; the essence is powerfully captured in the poem :

The Sycamore’s Ghost by Jane Burn 

“ while we wait

The wind cuts through your lack.

The empty gap howls.”

Beautifully presented, this mini-anthology is a thoughtful addition to the collection of regional titles, bringing the county gloriously alive. All wrapped up in a stunning cover, it’s a perfect gift instead of a card for anyone who calls Northumberland home, or for those, like me, who shed a few angry tears at the senseless destruction of the iconic Sycamore Gap tree.

About the Publisher 

Candlestick Press is a small, independent press publishing sumptuously produced poetry pamphlets that serve as a wonderful alternative to a greetings card, with matching envelopes and bookmarks left blank for your message. Their subjects include Mountains, Clouds, Walking, Birds, Wine and Happiness. Candlestick Press pamphlets are stocked by chain and independent bookshops, galleries and garden centres nationwide and available to order online.

Twitter/X @poetrycandle 

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📖 Book Review ~ The Autumn Valley: A Different Sort of Time by Miriam Darlington

Candlestick Press
August 2025

My thanks to the publisher for my copy of this pamphlet 

 

Round a bend at the end of a deep lane where trees “lean in over the track” we find ourselves in a hidden Gloucestershire valley. This richly lyrical essay by leading naturalist brings us owls and wrens, hibernating ladybirds and an old orchard where windfall crab apples melt into the soft earth.

Humans and animals alike are hunkering down ready for the cold season ahead. Tasks such as sweeping leaves and clearing gutters are woven into the parallel rhythms of the natural world, so that indoors and outdoors are brought into intimate harmony:

“Another dusk. Rain-mist muffles everything, softens the valley’s curves. It’s a different sort of time here. Leaf-slip time, brown and gold and copper leaves, of whitebeam, beech, alder. A churring comes from somewhere. A deer barks, and the night becomes creaturely again, breathes at the lit windows.”

Written with loving attention to the lives of plants, insects and animals, these words are best enjoyed by a blazing fire or curled up in a favourite armchair after the curtains have been drawn

Poems by Ronnie Goodyer and Stanley Plumly. 

Cover illustration by Simon Palmer.

📖 My Review..

I woke this morning to the beauty of a day shrouded in mist which reminded me that, as we come to the end of September, we are heading into the true sense of autumn. I can think of no better reminder of the pleasure of my favourite season than by reading this beautiful pamphlet which evokes such a sense of quiet autumn days.

Evocative of the change of the season The Autumn Valley: A Different Sort of Time takes us on a special journey into the author’s surroundings as she describes, in such lovely detail, the place she calls home. 

“ At night it becomes a small place in a big darkness…”

I am envious of the peace and tranquillity she finds in the ancient timbers of her house and yet through the beauty of her words I can walk beside her as she describes the natural wonder of the life she has and of her discoveries in the surrounding valley. 

“ The path leads through the fallen leaves and thistle heads and into the woods. The sound of our footfall accumulates in the leaf litter…”

So beautifully written and gently reminiscent of a quieter world and one we too could find for ourselves if we just take a moment to stop, look and listen. Go and find a woodland, stand for a moment and feel the silent companionship of tiny creatures, or the gentle sigh of an oak leaf as it flutters to the ground. Autumn magic is there in the small corners of the natural world.

The two poems which start and end the book capture the mood perfectly:

From Off A Side Road Near Staunton by Stanley Plumly

Some nothing afternoon, no-one anywhere,

an early autumn stillness in the air…

From From the Teign Valley by Ronnie Goodyer

In our cottages , the fruit wine holds the sun

you are barefoot in the stream that thunders the valley

and I am slumped under the old willow, watching you.

The beautifully designed cover opens a peek into gentle world. The Autumn Valley: A Different Sort of Time is definitely something to treasure and would make the perfect gift instead of a card for anyone who loves the autumn season, or for a birthday, or anniversary, which may fall during this special time of year.

About the Publisher 

Candlestick Press is a small, independent press publishing sumptuously produced poetry pamphlets that serve as a wonderful alternative to a greetings card, with matching envelopes and bookmarks left blank for your message. Their subjects include Mountains, Clouds, Walking, Birds, Wine and Happiness. Candlestick Press pamphlets are stocked by chain and independent bookshops, galleries and garden centres nationwide and available to order online.

Twitter/X @poetrycandle#TheAutumnValley

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Website 

📖 Blog Tour ~ The Queen’s Necklace by Adrienne Chinn

One More Chapter
25 September 2025

My thanks to the publisher and Rachel’s Random Resources for the copy of the book to review

The most famous necklace in the world has finally been found…

Bryher Finch’s life isn’t just a disaster, it’s a catastrophe, until a chance invitation to chart her family tree changes everything. As Bryher uncovers the ancestry she never knew about, she stumbles on the find of the century – Anne Boleyn’s ‘B’ necklace, as enigmatic as Henry VIII’s most notorious Queen herself.

But Bryher isn’t the only one who wants the necklace…

📖My Review..

The lasting portrait we have of the ill-fated Tudor Queen Anne Boleyn features an enigmatic young woman wearing her trademark “B” necklace. This necklace is almost as iconic as the woman herself so to have a modern day mystery based around the whereabouts of this necklace adds an interesting dimension especially when it’s combined with the Tudor period and Anne Boleyn’s relationship with her older sister, Mary, together with Anne’s drive and ambition as she sets out on her path to destiny.

The Queen’s Necklace is an interesting dual time mystery which shows the differences, and some similarities, between characters who have been separated by time. I thought that both time frames were well written, although, for me, the Tudor sections had the edge as this is my favourite period in history and I rather enjoy stories about Anne Boleyn. However, I did enjoy the modern day mystery with Bryher Finch, she’s an interesting character, not always likeable and filled with all sorts of celebrity angst but that added to the overall appeal of the story.

About the Author

Adrienne Chinn was born in Grand Falls, Newfoundland, grew up in Quebec, and eventually made her way to London, England after a career as a journalist. In England she worked as a TV and film researcher before embarking on a career as an interior designer, lecturer, and writer. When not up a ladder or at the computer writing, she often can be found rummaging through flea markets or haggling in the Marrakech souk. Her debut novel, The Lost Letter, was published in 2019. Her second novel, the international bestseller, The English Wife, was published in 2020. Her third novel, Love in a Time of War, the first in a series of four books in The Three Fry Sisters series, was published in 2022. The second book in the series, The Paris Sister, was published in 2023, and the third book, In the Shadow of War, was published in March 2024. Her next book, an historical timeslip novel, The Queen's Necklace, will be published in September 2025, followed by the fourth book in The Three Fry Sisters series, set during WWII, in 2026.

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📖 Blog Tour ~ The President’s Wife by Anna Stuart

Bookouture
23 September 2025

My thanks to the publisher for my copy of the book
And the invitation to the blog tour

 

December 1941: ‘Pearl Harbor has been bombed.’ My husband, President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s, voice shakes as he tells me the devastating news. We both know what this means: America is at war.

Eleanor Roosevelt takes a deep breath. This is her third term as First Lady and she knows what it takes to lead her country alongside charming and charismatic Franklin. She’s dedicated to her role as an activist having spent her life working towards a vision of a better America. But the attack on Pearl Harbor shatters everything. Entering the war that’s been raging across the world will be their greatest challenge yet.

Eleanor and Franklin have been married for over thirty years; supporting each other through all the highs and lows and now they will need to pull together more than ever. But whilst their working relationship has always been strong their marriage has had its troubles. Will a more personal threat tear them apart right when they need each other the most?

With war now at America’s shores, the stakes are higher than they’ve ever been. This is a moment that history will never forget, and all eyes are on them. Will Eleanor succeed in her role as the president’s wife and help to save her beloved country? Or will tragedy strike before the war is won…?

📖 My Review ..

I had heard, of course, of Eleanor Roosevelt, the indomitable American First Lady, who together with her husband, Franklin D. Roosevelt led the American people during the momentous years of WW2. 

This fictional account is told in alternate chapters which link the Roosevelt’s early married life, along with their struggles, as they prepare for one of the greatest roles of their lives. Although born into privilege, Eleanor’s life had been far from easy, orphaned quite young and brought up by an assortment of relatives she thought she had found her anchor in her marriage to Franklin only for this to be left wanting in some areas and yet Eleanor’s steadfastness and stoical nature would see her blossom in America’s darkest hour.

I’ve really enjoyed reading about Eleanor and following on her journey as she stepped up when Franklin’s disability hampered some of his activities. She really was a force to be reckoned with and the author has done a great job of bringing this formidable woman to life. Having read the author’s previous novel, The English Wife, about Clementine Churchill, it was especially interesting to have a sense of continuity when these two influential woman come into contact with each other in war torn London in 1942.

Beautifully written, with historical accuracy and a real a sense of time and place, the history of WW2 comes to life, especially the involvement of America following the attack on Pearl Harbour. It was especially interesting to read of Eleanor Roosevelt’s loyalty not only to her public duty as the President’s Wife but also her utter commitment in helping to bring about a safer world.

About the Author

Anna Stuart lives in Derbyshire with her campervan-mad husband, two hungry teenagers and a slightly loopy dog. She was hooked on books from the moment she first opened one in her cot so is thrilled to now have several of her own to her name. Having studied English literature at Cambridge university, she took an enjoyable temporary trip into the ‘real world’ as a factory planner, before returning to her first love and becoming an author. History has also always fascinated her. Living in an old house with a stone fireplace, she often wonders who sat around it before her and is intrigued by how actively the past is woven into the present, something she likes to explore in her novels. Anna loves the way that writing lets her ‘try on’ so many different lives, but her favourite part of the job is undoubtedly hearing from readers.

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📖 Publication Day Book Review ~ The Emergency Poet by Deborah Alma

Michael O’Mara
25 September 2025

My thanks to the publisher fir my copy of this book to review

A ten-year anniversary edition of Deborah Alma’s

much-loved collection, The Emergency Poet:

An Anti-Stress Poetry Anthology

In The Emergency Poet, Deborah Alma (the Emergency Poet herself) has distilled all her warmth and wisdom into a seriesof ‘verse cures’. Here she presents a thoughtful and highly therapeutic selection of poems, both familiar and lesserknown, from the likes of Emily Dickinson, Dylan Thomas, E. E Cummings, Seamus Heaney, Elaine Feinstein, DerekWalcott, and Fleur Adcock.

From ‘Days when the world is too much with us’ to ‘Tonics to the lift the spirits’, they are soothing and carefully chosen topurge melancholy, provide hope and give courage in the most trying circumstances. Sections follow a life through itschallenges – from learning to be yourself, falling in and out oflove and having children, through to ill-health, coping with grief and death.

📖My Review..

I love a poetry anthology and this ten year anniversary edition of The Emergency Poet ticks all the right boxes as there is really something for all occasions. At stressful times in my life I have turned to poetry in order to make sense of a world gone mad, it is especially comforting to relax and let the beauty of words drift around you. 

Beautifully presented, The Emergency Poet is a wonderfully tactile little book which is just the right size to fit comfortably into a pocket or a handbag, or which sits patiently on a bedside table. It is a comforting sort of book to have just within reach when an emergency pick-me-up is required. Described as an ‘Anti-Stress Poetry Anthology’ I have certainly found that to be an accurate description. 

Perfectly divided into ten quite separate sections,  I was particularly thrilled to discover one of my favourite poems The Peace of Wild Things by Wendell Berry opens the ‘For days when the world is too much with us’ section, and if you are not familiar with this lovely poem, I do recommend you search it out or even better treat yourself to this lovely anthology and discover more hidden gems and valued treasures.

I have found much to enjoy in this anthology recognising some old friends amongst the choices whilst discovering poems, and poets, I haven’t come across before. It would make a perfect gift for anyone who loves poetry, or for someone who is going through a challenging time or even as a little gift to oneself in order to help on those darker days when an emergency poem is just what is needed to keep the dark clouds at bay.

About the Author

Deborah Alma is the Emergency Poet and a bookseller. Since publication of her first book, The Emergency Poet ten years ago, her profile has grown enormously. She has worked using poetry with people with dementia, in hospice care, with women’s groups and with children in schools and taught at both Worcester and Keele universities. From 2012 she was the Emergency Poet, offering poetry on prescription from her vintage ambulance. She co-founded the world’s first walk-in Poetry Pharmacy in Bishop’s Castle, Shropshire in 2019, which now has a second branch inside Lush Spa on Oxford Street in

London.

She is the editor of several anthologies, notably These Are the Hands: Poems from the Heart of the NHS, the National Trust’s Nature Poems, and the new Poetry Pharmacy series with Macmillan. Her first full collection of poems, Dirty Laundry, is published by Nine Arches Press.

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📖 Blog Tour ~ Mending Hearts at the Cornish Country Hospital by Jo Bartlett

Boldwood Books
9 September 2025

My thanks to the publisher for the book
and Rachael’s Random Resources for the invitation to the blog tour

For A&E nurse Eden Grainger, Port Kara offers more than just a safe haven. It's a chance to break free from her ex Jesse and start a new life. Her focus now is solely on her four-year-old son, Teddie, whose autism means he sees the world in his own unique way.

A guarded heart…

Pathologist Drew Redford prefers to keep himself to himself in the busy hospital. Shaped by family loss and navigating life with high-functioning autism, he finds comfort in certainty. But when Eden and Teddie enter his world, an unexpected connection forms, especially through his gentle interactions with little Teddie.

A kindred connection…

Despite a growing fondness, both Eden and Drew are cautious. Eden is wary of repeating old mistakes, and Drew struggles with letting people in. But Teddie continues to bring them together and Eden thinks this could be the start of something really special. But when Jesse returns, Eden is thrown into turmoil and makes a mistake that could cost her everything.

Now Drew must decide if protecting his heart means losing the unexpected warmth Eden and Teddie have brought into his life.

📖 My Review..

Returning to this series of books set at the Cornish Country Hospital is like meeting up with old friends. In Mending Hearts at the Cornish Country Hospital we meet A&E nurse Erin whose sympathetic nature endears her to both patients and colleagues alike. Her careful efficiency however hides a reticence and a sense of hiding away especially as we get deeper into the story and learn of her family life with her delightful young son, Teddie, who is the light of her life. When she meets Drew, one of the hospital’s pathologists they immediately strike a rapport and realise they have much more in common than they could ever have realised.

Beautifully written, this is really lovely story which shares the many joys and occasional difficulties, of having a child with autism and is done in such a heartwarming and life affirming way that you can’t help but be drawn into Erin and Teddie’s story. Drew is such an amazing character, I really loved him from the start and, of course, I hoped that they would all get their happy ever after. However, it’s not all hearts and flowers as there are some quite difficult moments in the story which explores the danger surrounding coercive behaviour and with it being set in a hospital there are also some details of trauma and bereavement but it’s all handled really will and the author has an empathic writing style which keeps everything ticking along really smoothly.

Mending Hearts at the Cornish Country Hospital is the sixth book in the series and can be read as a standalone story.

About the Author

Jo Bartlett is the bestselling author of over nineteen women’s fiction titles. She fits her writing in between her two day jobs as an educational consultant and university lecturer and lives with her family and three dogs on the Kent coast.

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📖 Blog Tour ~ The Santa Hat and Other Christmastime Short Stories by Rebecca L. Marsh

Purple Angel Press
25 September 2025

My thanks to the author for the book 
and the invitation to this blog tour

Rebecca L. Marsh’s collection of short stories will bring the joy of the Christmas season alive. As these ordinary characters, struggling through difficulties and past traumas, find healing and renewed hope, the essence of the season of miracles jumps off the pages.

The Santa Hat

Paige is skipping Christmas. Refusing to relinquish the unrealistic hope of returning to a life shared with her husband, she can’t face the holiday festivities. The only exception is a gift exchange with her best friend who gives her a Santa hat said to have a touch of magic. 

Family Tree

Ada and Hayden had a happy marriage until a tragedy tore them apart just days before Christmas. A year later, just as they are about to make their split final and go their separate ways, a mysterious phone call stops them in their tracks and offers them a newfound hope. 

Better than Diamonds

Fourteen-year-old Ruby is having a hard time finding the joy in the Christmas season now that her beloved grandmother is no longer with them. When her school break comes, her mother suggests she spend some time trying to solve the mystery of where her cat recently began disappearing to each and every day. Ruby begins an investigation. But she never expected the answer to mend her broken heart.

If you love stories that warm your heart and touch your soul, then this book is for you!

📖My Review..

This is a lovely collection of seven beautifully written short stories, each of which conveys a rather special message. There is a strong observational sense of people considering their choices and counting their blessings. Christmas is a time of reflection and I think that these lovely stories reiterate what’s important, namely family and friends, each with a theme of love, loss and the hope of second chances in warm hearted stories which leave you with a satisfied glow. They each remind us that there can be a way through sadness, despair and grief.

There is a definite sense of continuity throughout the seven stories and I won’t spoil any of them by giving the secret away but I am a firm believer in sometimes having help, or an extra push in the right direction, from something, or someone, that we can't always explain. The author brings the characters to life with gentle stories which wrap around you like a warm hug. I loved all of them especially Family Tree which is especially poignant and Better than Diamonds which made me smile as I often wondered what my cats got up when they went out for the day.

In the run up to the Christmas holiday season it’s inevitable that we get caught up in all the frenzied hype and forget to take time out to relax and chill with a good book. The Santa Hat and other Christmastime Stories is the perfect antidote to stress as each story is just the right length to read comfortably with a cup of tea or relaxing with a mug of coffee in your favourite cafe.

About the Author

Rebecca L. Marsh is an award-winning author of women’s fiction and member of the Paulding County Writer’s Guild. She grew up in the mountains of western North Carolina, and now lives in Dallas, Georgia with her husband.  She is a Christian, a mother to a beautiful daughter, and an animal lover. When she isn’t writing, she enjoys spending time with her family.

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📖 Book Review ~ Ten Poems from Norfolk from Candlestick Press

Candlestick Press
August 2025

My thanks to the publisher for my copy of this pamphlet 

Selected and introduced by Helen Ivory and Martin Figura…

It’s easy to imagine Norfolk as just wide skies and long flat horizons. This lively selection of poems shows that there’s plenty more to discover in this very easterly corner of Britain.

There’s a paean to the region’s distinctive pale flint with its “black, cracked-open heart” together with a reminder of “the sunken trees of Doggerland” now lost to the waters. We also explore the county’s history as a centre for the textile industry, meeting the “throwsterers, twisterers and wool-combers” who came over from the Low Countries. Norfolk is a place people long to return to – whether by crossing land or sea:

“Who amongst us has never been a stranger
at some shore, like a hopeful little boat.
How does anyone end up anywhere?”

from ‘Cloth’ by Martin Figura

Poems by Monica Alvi, Camilla Doyle, Martin Figura, Helen Hadfield, Matt Howard, Helen Ivory, John Kett, Andrew McDonnell, Esther Morgan and George Szirtes.

The anthology captures Norfolk as a place of echoes and deep history whose wild beauty never forgets the tang of the sea.

Cover illustration by Louise Stebbing.

📖 My Review ..

Norfolk, a place of big skies and quiet places, is somewhere I have only visited once and that just a flying visit with the intention of returning one day, a promise which has somehow slipped me by. I recall the friendliness of its people and the bleak beauty of its seascapes. This anthology of ten beautifully written poems encapsulates the brooding nature of the county and its often forgotten presence in its own little corner of the country.

“ Now spread your wings

hover as a sickle-taloned kestrel

above the sunken trees of Doggerland

then plummet sharp into the marram-knitted dunes 

caught in ink by the cartographer

before sea was risen all beyond itself to claim them.”

From The Water Map by Helen Ivory

The beautifully imagined landscape and its rich vernacular is captured perfectly :

“… that at least the last of the fenfolk might

creep back at nightfall through the shining

fields, volty with damselflies: barbubblers and

buttlebumps…”

From Evensong by Jen Hadfield

Having read this special anthology of poems which celebrate the diversity and beauty of this lovely county I now have the urge to revisit Norfolk and become reacquainted with its old ways and byways. With its beautiful cover illustration, so reminiscent of the Norfolk Fens, Ten Poems from Norfolk is a lovely treasure trove of verses and is the perfect gift instead of a card which compliments perfectly this series of UK regional poetry pamphlets.

About the Publisher 

Candlestick Press is a small, independent press publishing sumptuously produced poetry pamphlets that serve as a wonderful alternative to a greetings card, with matching envelopes and bookmarks left blank for your message. Their subjects include Mountains, Clouds, Walking, Birds, Wine and Happiness. Candlestick Press pamphlets are stocked by chain and independent bookshops, galleries and garden centres nationwide and available to order online.

Twitter/X @poetrycandle

Blue Sky @candlestickpress.bsky.social

Website 

📖 Ten Poems from Somerset from Candlestick Press

Candlestick Press
August 2025

My thanks to the publisher for my copy of this pamphlet 

 

The old name for Somerset is Summerlands – a word that seems to contain the pastoral and slightly nostalgic atmosphere of this lovely area of Britain. These poems celebrate the intimacy of hidden valleys and tumbling rivers, and there’s a woodland walk which makes Samuel Taylor Coleridge long for the company of his beloved Sara.

The county is also a place of glorious towns and cities; Bath appears with its “gold-toned islands” and there’s also:

“The little old Somerset town you talk of,
that honey-gold, ever-sunlit,
late 1940s spot nestling in the green
scarplands of your memory…”

from ‘Roots’ by Robert Walton

What emerges here is the very particular character of Somerset – reflected in its treasury of local words, as well as in its deeper history when parts of the county lay under the sea.

 Carrie Etter is an American poet who has lived in the West Country since 2005.

Poems by David Briggs, Rachael Clyne, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Carries Etter, Gerald Grffin, Alyson Hallet, Pey Oh, Ruth Sharman, Robert Walton and Claire Williamson.

📖 My Review..

I’ve visited Somerset several times and on each visit I’ve been aware of the sense of history which surrounds the landscape and of forces, sometimes, ancient, which still linger in the highways and byways of this rather special county. This fascinating anthology explores the hidden places, bringing the county and its people alive in the imagination.

“ In narrow, Georgian alleys, still

you can meet

pale-gowned,-painted ladies,

who come down from

the grand sweeps of crescents”

From  The Tall Terraces of Bath by Pey Oh

Somerset’s rural landscape is beautifully described :

“ A country road ribboning the foothill

of a limestone escarpment- to the south.

low-slung December sun silhouetting 

hedgerows of willow and dogwood”

From Landscape with a Knackered Barn by David Briggs

I didn’t know that the old name for Somerset was Summerlands but that makes sense as there is something intrinsically special about its people, its landscape and its dialect. Beautifully put together, with a delightful cover so reminiscent of Bath, each of the ten poems are reflective of time and place and are the perfect gift instead of a card for anyone who loves the area or for all those people who call this delightful county home.

About the Publisher 

Candlestick Press is a small, independent press publishing sumptuously produced poetry pamphlets that serve as a wonderful alternative to a greetings card, with matching envelopes and bookmarks left blank for your message. Their subjects include Mountains, Clouds, Walking, Birds, Wine and Happiness. Candlestick Press pamphlets are stocked by chain and independent bookshops, galleries and garden centres nationwide and available to order online.

Twitter/X @poetrycandle

Blue Sky @candlestickpress.bsky.social

Website 

📖 Book Review ~ Seven Reasons to Murder your Dinner Guests by K. J. Whittle

Harper North
11 September 2025

Three courses. Seven guests. One evening they'll never forget.

Seven strangers meet at Serendipity's for an anonymously hosted dinner party. As the evening reaches its close, small black envelopes are placed in front of the diners… revealing the age at which each will die.

Spooked, but not wholly shaken, the group disperses into the rainy night with the hope of forgetting the ghoulish stunt.

But two weeks later, one dinner guest dies at the age foretold. Was it a tragic accident? Or something more sinister?

As the years go by, the other guests begin to die in line with the predictions given on that first night. And it's up to the remaining few to figure who, if anyone, was behind that dinner party before their numbers catch up with them too.

Told from the perspectives of the guests, Seven Reasons to Murder Your Dinner Guests balances mystery and mortality, asking: how would you live your life if you know your number was up?

📖 My Review..

In November 2015 a group of seven disparate dinner guests gather at a secluded, and rather clandestine, restaurant in London. They have no idea why they have been gathered together nor do they know who is hosting the party and whilst the seven have absolutely nothing in common by the end of the sumptuous meal they will be linked in a way they could never have imagined. Over the course of the next ten years we catch up with the dinner guests and ponder over the reasons why each of them have been targeted in such an unusual way.

What then follows is a slow burner of a story which takes us into the lives of each of the dinner guests, in fact, we are allowed to get right inside their heads as they each go back to the mundanity of their lives.  The rather clever twist to the story, of which there are several, comes in the knowledge that each of the guests have been told the age that they will die. It’s an interesting concept, cleverly handled, and a different take on the usual guests around the dinner table murder/mystery, it’s rather like an Agatha Christie but with a modern twist.

I enjoyed how the story developed and all credit must go to the author for drawing me into the story despite none of the characters being at all likeable. Of course, as with all mysteries I attempted to guess the outcome but I was left baffled until the clever reveal. Brilliantly done, this a story which intrigues from start to finish.

About the Author 

Kerry Whittle grew up in Cumbria and studied English Language and Literature in London. She is an experienced journalist, having written for national newspapers and magazines for the last 20 years, specialising in real life stories. In 2020, she attended Curtis Brown Creative’s novel writing course.

📖 Blogathon Book Review ~ Anything For Her by Jack Jordan

Simon & Schuster
5 June 2025

My thanks to the publisher and Tracy at Compulisve Readers
For the copy of this book to review and the invitation to the Blogathon

 Sometimes the past comes back to haunt you.

Louise Leighton's life has fallen apart, all because of one fateful night. Her husband is an adulterer, her sister is his mistress, and soon, Louise will lose everything she owns. But she never imagined she would lose her daughter.

Eighteen-year-old Brooke Leighton is missing. It's up to Louise and the Metropolitan Police to find her. Has Brooke run away? Or has she been taken against her will? And can Louise aid the investigation without mentioning the night where all of her troubles began?

If she mentions that night, she will incriminate her daughter for heinous crimes. But if she doesn't, she may never find Brooke; and if she has been abducted, the person who took her may come for Louise, too.

Sometimes the past comes back to kill you.

📖My Review..

Louise Leighton should have had the perfect life with a stylish home, a successful husband and two lovely children however, as we discover in this fast action thriller all is really not well in her world and with events spiralling out of control Louise knows that time is running out and her secrets, and those of her fractured family, are about to be discovered.

Beautifully paced, and with never a dull moment, the narrative is crisp and clean, conjuring a series of events that I really didn’t see coming. There’s a creepiness to the story which I found quite unsettling and when reading into the night I found myself jumping at shadows. I couldn’t begin to imagine the horrors Louise was facing but the author does an excellent job of getting under the skin of his characters and brings them so forcibly to life that, despite their many, many faults, I couldn’t help but have a modicum of sympathy for them. However, even my reader’s empathy, towards character flaws, was sorely tested by what was so cleverly revealed at the end of this complicated thriller.

Anything For Her is an unputdownable thriller and a complex lesson in just how far parents, and mothers in particular, will go to protect their children. Previously published in 2015, as the author’s debut novel, Anything For Her is now republished with a striking new cover. 

About the Author

Jack Jordan is the global bestselling author of Anything for Her, My Girl, A Woman Scorned, Before Her Eyes, Night by Night, Do No Harm and Conviction, and an Amazon No. 1 bestseller in the UK, Canada and Australia.

Do No Harm was described as ‘chilling’ by Sarah Pearse, ‘brilliant’ by Lesley Kara and ‘pulse-racing’ by Louise Candlish. It was an instant Times bestseller on first publication and a Waterstones Thriller of the Month pick.

To find out more, follow Jack on Twitter, Instagram and TikTok:

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📖 Publication Day Book Review ~ To Love A Liar by L V Matthews

Penguin
11 September 2025

My thanks to the publisher for my copy of this book to review

CHRIS FLETCHER IS A MAN WITH SECRETS . . .

One woman dead.

Nineteen years ago, policeman Chris Fletcher's lover was found dead in an abandoned house.

One woman missing.

Now, his loyal wife has disappeared without a trace.

A man with everything to lose.

There's no doubt that he's guilty, but of which crime?

📖  My Review…

Chris Fletcher is an undercover police officer who, in the past, was involved in some particularly harrowing clandestine investigations. Twenty years later, Chris and his wife Jill are currently in hiding pending an inquest into the death of a young woman, who was once intimately involved with Chris. This case is really high profile and as such ignites the interest of the general public, especially on social media platforms, who all seem to have their own divided opinions on what really happened all those years ago.

This is a gritty, and rather dark, story which offers background into the investigation in which Chris played a major part but which also looks at the psychological damage done to police officers who, when deep undercover, have to put aside everything about their personal lives and take up a completely new identity. On many levels, it’s a disturbing story, Chris is a deeply troubled individual and has been badly traumatised by past events but it is the impact of these revelations on his wife Jill where the real difficulties start to emerge.

In a story in which I was never quite sure where the truth ended and the lies began, To Love A Liar is a compelling and suspenseful thriller which kept me turning the pages long into the night.

About The Author

L V Matthews worked for 10 years in both domestic and international sales for major UK publishing houses, before leaving to pursue a career in writing. She has always been fascinated by the grit of the human psyche, and what drives people to act in the dark ways that they do.

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